As a 19 year old private infantry soldier I just can't find the words to express what this song means to me. I mean, the average soldier there was 19. Like, more than half of them were younger than me, just teenagers..
"Remember Charlie
Remember Baker
They left their childhood
On every acre"
That really sums it up like, the soldiers were still only kids, they were just kids and a lot of them were drafted. So what ya have is an army of drafted kids who're half scared to death in a foreign country and those that don't make it spill their blood all over the country (spill their childhood). Those that do make it are then treated like shit when they get home. Nobody deserves that! I don't agree with what happened in vietnam, I don't agree with what's happening in iraqistan either but I'd be the last person to blame the troops. Ya know why? Because it's not their fault. When you enlist you take an oath to obey all lawful orders. It's not the troops fault if the orders are f*cked up. They're just doing their job and trying to stay alive. Which brings me on to
"And who was wrong?
And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight "
Vietnam was a slaughter house on both sides... I don't blame the soldiers for what they did and I don't understand how anyone else can. How can people sit on their high horse and preach when they've never been there? When they've never known the terror of sitting in enemy territory at night, knowing deep down that you're not going to win this war and just waiting for the day when a bullet sends you home?!? If you're living like that day in, day out it REALLY doesn't matter if your side are right or wrong, all that matters is getting out alive.
It's very, very easy to take the easy option and be all anti-vietnam vets. What's not easy is to go into a situation like that and keep fighting and doing your best, even if you really don't want to.
"They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive"
I'd like to see any of the crusties go into a situation like the one he describes above (which a lot of vietnam was) and remain anti-vets.
This song just means so much to me. It's so right because it's not talking about the politics of the war, it's just talking about the war and the kids that were fighting it.
As a 19 year old private infantry soldier I just can't find the words to express what this song means to me. I mean, the average soldier there was 19. Like, more than half of them were younger than me, just teenagers..
"Remember Charlie Remember Baker They left their childhood On every acre"
That really sums it up like, the soldiers were still only kids, they were just kids and a lot of them were drafted. So what ya have is an army of drafted kids who're half scared to death in a foreign country and those that don't make it spill their blood all over the country (spill their childhood). Those that do make it are then treated like shit when they get home. Nobody deserves that! I don't agree with what happened in vietnam, I don't agree with what's happening in iraqistan either but I'd be the last person to blame the troops. Ya know why? Because it's not their fault. When you enlist you take an oath to obey all lawful orders. It's not the troops fault if the orders are f*cked up. They're just doing their job and trying to stay alive. Which brings me on to
"And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn't matter in the thick of the fight "
Vietnam was a slaughter house on both sides... I don't blame the soldiers for what they did and I don't understand how anyone else can. How can people sit on their high horse and preach when they've never been there? When they've never known the terror of sitting in enemy territory at night, knowing deep down that you're not going to win this war and just waiting for the day when a bullet sends you home?!? If you're living like that day in, day out it REALLY doesn't matter if your side are right or wrong, all that matters is getting out alive.
It's very, very easy to take the easy option and be all anti-vietnam vets. What's not easy is to go into a situation like that and keep fighting and doing your best, even if you really don't want to.
"They heard the hum of our motors They counted the rotors And waited for us to arrive"
I'd like to see any of the crusties go into a situation like the one he describes above (which a lot of vietnam was) and remain anti-vets.
This song just means so much to me. It's so right because it's not talking about the politics of the war, it's just talking about the war and the kids that were fighting it.